Examined Lives: From Socrates to Nietzsche

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A New York Times Notable Book for 2011
We all want to know how to live. But before the good life was reduced to ten easy steps or a prescription from the doctor, philosophers offered arresting answers to the most fundamental questions about who we are and what makes for a life worth living.
In Examined Lives, James Miller returns to this vibrant tradition with short, lively biographies of twelve famous philosophers. Socrates spent his life examining himself and the assumptions of others. His most famous student, Plato, risked his reputation to tutor a tyrant. Diogenes carried a bright lamp in broad daylight and announced he was “looking for a man.” Aristotle’s alliance with Alexander the Great presaged Seneca’s complex role in the court of the Roman Emperor Nero. Augustine discovered God within himself. Montaigne and Descartes struggled to explore their deepest convictions in eras of murderous religious warfare. Rousseau aspired to a life of perfect virtue. Kant elaborated a new ideal of autonomy. Emerson successfully preached a gospel of self-reliance for the new American nation. And Nietzsche tried “to compose into one and bring together what is fragment and riddle and dreadful chance in man,” before he lapsed into catatonic madness.
With a flair for paradox and rich anecdote, Examined Lives is a book that confirms the continuing relevance of philosophy today—and explores the most urgent questions about what it means to live a good life.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0044781V0
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 4, 2011
Edition ‏ : ‎ First
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 2.7 MB
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 433 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1429957168
Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #81,144 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #4 in History of Philosophy & Schools of Thought eBooks #35 in Greek & Roman Philosophy (Kindle Store) #161 in Ancient Greek & Roman Philosophy
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